GEO GUIDE
Writing Page Titles and Descriptions for Search and AI
Updated 2026-10-19 · this page makes no search or citation promises
The direct answer: the title states what problem the page solves (with the core entity), and the description is an answer unit — a passage that directly answers the question the page addresses. Neither needs rhetoric: engines truncate long text, and AI uses them to judge relevance to a query.
The direct answer: the title states what problem the page solves (with the core entity), and the description is an answer unit — a passage that directly answers the question the page addresses. Neither needs rhetoric: engines truncate long text, and AI uses them to judge relevance to a query.
Four rules for titles
- Put the core entity first (product or topic term).
- Keep to roughly 60 Latin characters / 30 CJK characters — the rest is truncated.
- Unique per page — duplicated titles are self-competition.
- No suspense, no exaggeration — “you won't believe” is a liability in search contexts.
Three rules for descriptions
- Write the page's direct answer into the description — it is often used for the search snippet and cited by AI.
- One complete sentence, roughly 70-160 characters.
- Include the boundary (audience or scenario) — it helps engines match the right queries.
Common ad-copy mistakes
- “The #1 choice”, “industry-leading” — no entity, no verification, no difference.
- Stacked keyword variants — semantic repetition is negative for both search and AI.
- Descriptions that overpromise relative to the page — bounce rate rises and credibility falls.
Self-check
Take the title and description in isolation and ask: does this answer “what is this page about” on its own? Does it duplicate another page on the site? Is there a single unverifiable claim? Ship when all three pass.